August 26, 2012Warriors Select Snøhetta And AECOM As Architecture Team To Build New Sport & Entertainment Complex On SF Waterfront

The Golden State Warriors announced today that Snøhetta and AECOM have been selected as the architecture team that will design the Warriors’ new sports and entertainment complex, with the new arena as the centerpiece, on the waterfront at Piers 30-32 in San Francisco. The parties are in the final stages of negotiating the agreement.

“Snøhetta’s extensive experience with ambitious waterfront projects and its world-class architects’ familiarity with San Francisco through their work on the SFMOMA expansion was a huge factor in our decision,” said Joe Lacob, Co-Executive Chairman and CEO of the Warriors. “All you have to do is look at what they’ve done for the new National Opera House in Oslo and the Great Library of Alexandria in Egypt to see what is possible at Piers 30-32.”

“We conducted an exhaustive search of local and global architects and designers and, in the end, we felt that the combination of Snøhetta and AECOM was the best team to design what we envision as the most state-of-the-art multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex of its kind,” said Peter Guber, Co-Executive Chairman of the Warriors. “We want to build a venue that is not only innovative by today or tomorrow’s standards, but that will stand the test of time and befits the importance of the location. Great cities have great buildings in great locations. San Francisco is a great city.”

“The Warriors have set ambitious goals for their team and their sports and entertainment complex which are really very exciting,” said Craig Dykers, Senior Partner/Director/Architect of Snøhetta. “They’re interested in connections to the entire Bay Area and creating a venue that's useful for many people on many levels. Working with AECOM and having the vast sports arena knowledge and experience of Bill Crockett and Ellerbe Beckett as part of our team will be invaluable as we design the complex.”

Snøhetta will be paired with the San Francisco office of AECOM, an international firm with broad experience designing sports facilities. They are an important addition to the architecture team because of their purchase of Bill Crockett/Ellerbe Beckett -- one of the most, if not the most, prolific sports arena architects over the past two decades. Bill Crockett/Ellerbe Beckett is also the only sports architecture group based in San Francisco, which deepens the local strength of the project team.

“We're thrilled to be working with the Golden State Warriors and Snøhetta,” said Bill Crockett, AECOM Director of Sports Architecture. “We are well aware of the significance of this location, and we intend to work hand-in-hand with the city, and the community, to put forth a design that maximizes the sight lines and view corridors of the location and the surrounding area.”

The privately financed sports and entertainment complex will be located at Piers 30-32 on San Francisco Bay, south of the Bay Bridge, between the Ferry Building and AT&T Park.

Under the agreement, the City will provide the land and the Warriors will pay to repair the crumbling piers, and privately finance the sports and entertainment project. The cost of repairs alone is estimated at $100 million.

The new complex will host the Bay Area’s NBA basketball team, as well as provide a spectacular new venue for top-tier concerts, cultural events and conventions -- prominent events the City currently cannot accommodate.

About Snøhetta
Snøhetta formed as a collaborative in 1989 in Los Angeles, California when its members designed the competition-winning entry for the Alexandria Library in Egypt. Since that time Snøhetta formed an office in Oslo, Norway and in 2004 its two founding members formed an office in New York City after winning the commission to design the new Museum at the World Trade Center site.

The collaborative and multi-national character of the office has allowed it to work in a wide range of cultural contexts from Asia to Africa, Europe and the Americas. Recently having completed the new National Opera in Oslo, Snøhetta has gained a number of other prominent cultural buildings including the new King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge and Culture, the new James B. Hunt Jr. Library in Raleigh, North Carolina, the expansion of the SFMOMA and the Redesign of Times Square in New York City.

About AECOM
Listed on the Fortune 500 as one of America’s largest companies, AECOM's talented employees — including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management professionals — now serve clients in more than 130 countries around the world.

AECOM’s technical expertise and creative excellence come from the rich history of some of the world’s finest engineering, environmental, construction management as well as planning and design companies.

AECOM is recognized in Engineering News-Record’s 2011 Top 500 Design Firms' rankings, where AECOM is ranked #1 overall. And, for four consecutive years, Newsweek included AECOM on its U.S. Companies Green Rankings list.

For more information on the Warriors’ San Francisco arena development project, please visit warriors.com/sf.